Disowned
by AutumnSkiesAreBlue
Summary: I know this has been done many times before but this is my take on what happened when Sirius ran away from home and for a little while afterwards. Warning: contains violence, swearing and child abuse.
1. Chapter 1

**Disowned**

_**A/N: I'll warn you now, it's a bit dark and contains swearing and child abuse. 'I hope you enjoy' is the wrong phraseology to use but the meaning's the same…**_

_**The update was just formatting and a spelling mistake I found though I probably still missed some.**_

It was the Christmas holidays in Sirius' fifth year at Hogwarts. He really hadn't wanted to go home but he didn't have a choice. Only the day prior to the train leaving for London, Sirius had received a letter (not a Howler for once) stating that if he didn't return home for Christmas then his mother would personally drag him out of Hogwarts and take him home where he would receive the worst beating of his life. Sirius didn't doubt that the threat was genuine so he found himself on the Hogwarts Express along with his friends when he'd really much prefer to still be in the castle.

It was only the second day into the holidays and Sirius was already at odds with his family. His mother had begun insulting those of "lesser blood" and stated that Sirius, even though he was a "dirty blood traitor in the making" could "do better than that scum of the Earth."

Sirius had snapped, stating that even though half-blood and muggleborns (he flatly refused to call them mudbloods) didn't have pure blood it didn't mean that they were worth any less than he was.

"And don't you dare insult my friends, they're better than you could ever hope to be." Sirius snarled to his mother's comment.

"I still cannot comprehend that my own flesh and blood would consort with something so low born as a mudblood."

Sirius, who was now incredibly angry at his mother, decided he'd try and rile her further. "I lost my virginity to a muggleborn, Mother. Did you know that, it was great sex too. Purebloods are shit in bed." While Sirius was only trying to anger his mother further, his words were true and Walburga noticed this in Sirius' stubborn glare.

A vein throbbed in Walburga's temple as she drew her hand back and struck her eldest son across the cheek with the back of her hand causing one of her many rings to cut into him and draw blood. Sirius didn't even flinch he just stared back, his eyes full of insolence.

"I will deal with you suitably after dinner. Furthermore, I shall be informing your father of this recent revelation of your… recreational activities."

Thus, Sirius braced himself once dinner had finish and he walked into his father's study in which both his parents waited.

Sirius couldn't even defend himself (his parents removed his wand every time he returned for the holidays) as his mother started firing hex after hex at him. After five minutes, Walburga relented and Sirius staggered to his feet, blood beginning to soak through his robes, Orion Black stepped menacingly towards him.

"Do you not have anything to say in your defence? I still cannot believe you would go against your family in such a way as to consort with a mudblood" Sirius had always preferred his father's punishments over his mother's. Walburga always flaunted her hatred for her first-born and was more than happy for Sirius to feel her disapproval at the hands of a well-aimed hex or curse. Orion however, had never struck Sirius. Instead he preferred to isolate his son, cutting him off from his friends and making him go without food. While neither methods were pleasant, Sirius would rather his father dealt with the matter. This did not stop him from pushing the limits of their control though.

"She was really good looking?" Sirius ventured.

What he hadn't been expecting was his father's fist to be drawn back before striking him hard just to the left of his nose. "I have endured enough of your insolence Boy." Orion snarled as Sirius staggered back from the combined effect of the punch and the after-effects of his mother's hexes. "If you behave inappropriately or say anything unbecoming of the House of Black there will be hell to pay. Do you understand?"

"Yes Father." Sirius replied, still stunned, before retreating to his bedroom to repair the damage his mother had caused.

And so the holidays continued, with Sirius on his best behaviour (though becoming more and more restless each day), until Christmas Eve.

The four residents of Number 12 Grimmauld Place were sat at the grand dining table awaiting Kreacher (the head house-elf) to serve the first course. As the soup bowls were placed at the table Walburga began to shower her youngest son with praise as he recounted his school year so far. As usual, Sirius kept his mouth shut and repressed every sarcastic comment that came to mind. Sirius was used to the lack of attention. As soon as Regulus was old enough to walk he became the good son and Sirius was pushed by the wayside. He didn't particularly mind as it kept his younger brother out of the way when their mother was looking for someone to punish.

However, as little as Sirius liked to admit it, he did inherit his mother's anger. It didn't take long for his parents' comments to start grating on his nerves.

"I'm so glad you've found respectable friends Regulus," gushed Walburga pointedly. "You'll go so far in life. It's nice to hear that one of our sons can respect the family name." Sirius clenched his fists and tried desperately to stop his spoon from shaking.

Regulus sneered at his older brother at Walburga's comment. The two boys had not been close since the year Regulus started Hogwarts. As soon as Sirius started school his mother had begun to change Regulus and mould him more into the perfect son. Then, when he'd been sorted into Slytherin, their relatives and other purebloods had continued to influence Regulus, gradually twisting him into being as self-centred and arrogant as they were.

"Did you know Mother, that Sirius is friends with creatures that aren't even human?" Regulus said sweetly to his parents, however his eyes glinted maliciously at Sirius across the table.

"What exactly do you mean, Regulus?" Orion said now staring avidly at his first-born. Sirius, meanwhile, had frozen.

"Oh well, you know the giant caretaker. Sirius and his _friends_ have been known to talk to it fairly frequently. And then there's that one Sirius' year. The one always skulking around on the full moon, looks sickly for a few days either side and is covered in suspicious scarring."

If looks could kill Regulus wouldn't have been reincarnated for a thousand years. "Is this true Boy?" Orion spat at Sirius who let his spoon clatter to the table.

"What the hell do you know Regulus. You're probably in cohorts with Snivellus, that slimy half-blood Slytherin in my year."

"It's all true father, that creature always missed lessons the morning after a full moon. And I've even seen him scurry off to the Whomping Willow on the nights in question. Merlin knows what he does when he gets there, that thing would shred even a beast like him to pieces." Regulus continued pompously.

Sirius stood sharply and his chair fell to the floor with a crash. "Remus isn't a beast! He's completely normal most of the time. There's nothing different about him. He's ten times the wizard you could ever hope to be Regulus." At this, Sirius seized his soup bowl and hurled it at his younger brother.

Walburga rose sharply and grabbed Sirius' hair and promptly dragged him towards his father's smoking room. Once inside, Walburga allowed Orion in before slamming the door shut.

Before Sirius knew it, Walburga's wand was in her hand. "Crucio." Sirius writhed on the flood, every nerve in his body was on fire but he refused to scream. Refused to give her the pleasure.

As the curse was lifted Sirius stumbled to his feet. "How dare you desecrate the Noble House of Black in such a way! You are not worthy of such nobility and purity of blood-!"

"Do you think I want to be stuck with you? I never had a choice in being born to such a heartless bitch!" Sirius was at the end of his tether, after all the years of abuse he'd suffered and endured quietly, he could no longer stand it.

Orion, who was now only a few inches taller than Sirius, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into the wall, causing various priceless artefacts to break and cut into Sirius' back. "Do not speak to your mother like that." Orion snarled. "I have had enough of you Boy. For too long have you brought shame upon me, people have even began to look down upon this family, the family with the purest of blood. All because of you."

Sirius should have known that his father's main argument would be so self-centred and, for once, his parents' brutality did not deter him, even when his father's bone breaker curse slammed into his chest and caused two of his ribs to shatter.

"What does it matter who I'm friends with, they're better than you anyway. You could never hope to be as good as them. Just because you can't manipulate me the way you did Regulus you think you can beat your beliefs into me?"

Walburga aimed a severing curse at Sirius, who dropped to his knees howling in agony as deep cuts appeared all across his torso. "We had forgiven your previous antics Sirius but all you have ever seemed to do is go out of your way to bring further shame on this family. Intercourse with a mudblood-!"

"They're no different to us!" Bellowed Sirius, beginning to rise to his feet once more despite the blood pooling round his feet and staining his clothing.

"CRUCIO!" The curse made Sirius' ribs explode in pain and he writhed once more on the blood stained floor. When his mother lifted the curse after a minute, Sirius didn't have the strength to stand and face them again. The combined effects of the blood loss and the curses had left Sirius drained of all the energy he had, though his anger remained.

"Defiling. Your. Family. For. A. Pathetic. Low-born. Werewolf." Walburga screeched, punctuating each word with a different curse or hex. The force of the spells drove Sirius into the bookshelves causing them to fall on top of him and fracturing his knee as a heavy statue landed upon his leg.

But Sirius was outraged. Nobody spoke about his friend in that way. Despite everything, Sirius drove himself to his feet and shoved off the splinters of the shelving.

"I hope you're happy in your isolated pureblood world!" Sirius spat bitterly at his mother. "Your lives will come crumbling down before you know it and you'll have nothing left. Voldemort-"

"Do not speak his name!" Orion bellowed, raising his voice for the first time in Sirius' memory.

"_Voldemort _will not shower you with luxuries as you expect. He will curse you into oblivion when he doesn't get what he wants!" Sirius continued ignoring his father completely. "And when he turns on you, you'll get no help from anyone, they all despise you too much."

While Sirius had been focusing entirely on his mother and staying upright, he had neglected to pay attention to his father whose wand was now raised.

"_Vi iaciunt_" Sirius was thrown off his feet and slammed into the wall opposite with so much force, the magically reinforced walls shook. Sirius crumpled at the bottom and didn't move.

"Orion, where is the boy's wand?" Walburga said still seething with uncontrollable anger.

"In my study, why?"

"I wish to show the ungrateful offspring one last lesson, _Accio wand._" She flung open the door just as the wand zoomed into the room and fell into her hand.

Crouching over the unmoving body of her eldest son, Walburga pointed Sirius' wand directly at his face. One long, deep cut embedded itself into Sirius' face, cutting his cheek, nose and lips. The pain of the hex caused Sirius to gasp into consciousness, only to see his own mother snap his wand in two and throw it at him.

Orion and Walburga left the room and returned to their dinner as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Meanwhile, Sirius clambered to his feet staring at his now useless wand through the blood clouding his eyes. At that moment Sirius knew he had to leave, to never return and to live his own life.

He staggered to the door of the smoking room and attempted to shuffle quietly down the hallway towards the door. Sirius wrenched open the door (falling into the wall in the process) and proceeded to fall down his front path. Mid-fall however, Sirius shifted into his dog form and found the pain numbed itself enough so that he could walk. At the end of his path, Padfoot turned and carefully began to walk down the street.

After two hours of walking in the blackness that was Christmas Eve, Sirius began to think of where he should go. While he wasn't bleeding in his dog form, he was still in agony with every step and every breath, he knew the minute he transformed back into a human, the pain would return with a vengeance and the bleeding would continue.

He knew Andromeda would take him in, as would his Uncle Alphard, however neither would be any help to him in this form. Sirius knew he really ought to go to St Mungo's to get healed properly but he really didn't like hospitals and he knew someone would contact his parents the minute he arrived. Then, a thought popped into his head, James' mother was a retired healer. Although, he and James were not on the best of terms after Sirius' misplaced prank on Snape a few months ago, James had forgiven Sirius' act of idiocy.

With this thought in mind, Sirius transformed and staggered to his feet, instantly regretting the decision as his began violently coughing up blood. He thrust out his wand arm (thankful he didn't need his wand) and the Knight Bus appeared with a bang right in front of him.

"Merlin's beard!" Exclaimed the conductor. "Ernie, we need to get him to St Mungo's on the double."

"No," Sirius wheezed. "Please, I've a friend who's a healer. Can you get me to Godric's Hollow?"

"Er… If you think that's best." The conductor said nervously.

"Urgh, I don't have any gold on me. Can I go in the book? I'll send the money on when I can." Sirius said staggering into the first empty bed he saw. The other passengers were staring at him cautiously.

"Of course, Sir."

After little more than an hour, the bus stopped in Godric's Hollow. Sirius didn't so much as disembark as land in the hedge next to the path. He was really beginning to feel the effects of the blood loss now.

As the Knight Bus disappeared with an almighty bang, Sirius shifted once more into his dog form. Once the transformation was complete, he began his ungainly walk up towards the Potters' residence, every step sending agonising pain shooting across his body.

However, when Sirius had reached the door, he began having second thoughts. It was late, they were probably all in bed, and he and James were still not entirely made up. With these thoughts in mind and his head getting lighter and more spinny with every passing second (even in his dog form), Sirius decided the worst they could do is turn him away.

Padfoot shifted into Sirius once more and he knocked on the hard oak door before collapsing into the wall next to it.

It was Charlus Potter, James' father, who opened the door. Donned in a dressing gown with his wand pointed directly at Sirius, Mr Potter gasped and proceeded to pick Sirius up and carry him into their living room.

As Mr Potter sent a magical message upstairs to wake his wife, Sirius began to lose consciousness, slumped on the comfortable sofa.

"Sirius, you've got to stay awake. Come on, open your eyes for me son." Sirius blearily opened his eyes to see the kind face of Charlus Potter staring at him anxiously.

At that moment, Dorea Potter bustled into the room, her arms laden with medical equipment. "I think you should wake James, Charlus. He'll be worried about his friend."

"Don' wan' be any troubl'" Sirius managed barely coherent and sounding almost drunk, "Didn' know where t'go."

"Don't you worry love, you're safe here. And more than welcome to stay." Mrs Potter uttered reassuringly. "Now you lay down while I fix you up."

At this point, James hurtled into the room, his father following. "Sirius! What happened? Is he going to be okay?" All of the sentences bundled together in his rush to see if his best friend was alright.

"M'okay James, S'rry 'bout evrythin'." Sirius suddenly cried out in pain as Mrs Potter healed one of his ribs.

"Sorry about what?" James asked, confused. "Never mind that, what happened?"

"Ran 'way." Sirius answered as if it explained everything.

"Wait, your parents did this?" James only received an affirmative grunt. James and his parents all looked at each other aghast.

"Why did you never say they hurt you, you could have stayed here."

"Din't wanna make fuss."

"Well you're never going back there if this is what they're like. You can move in here Sirius. For as long as you need." Mrs Potter replied whilst applying bandages to the cuts on Sirius' torso that wouldn't heal.

"I had no idea they were this bad." Mr Potter muttered shaking his head.

"Me neither." Answered James from the floor. "Is he going to be alright Mum?"

"He'll be fine, though some of the cuts may take a while to heal. Curse wounds don't heal like normal ones. I can't mend his fractured knee all too well either so he'll limp for a while. And he lost a lot of blood, it's a wonder he made it here at all."

"I'm sleeping in here tonight, in case he needs anything." James said stubbornly. His parents just nodded while Dorea Potter finished patching up James' best friend.

The following day Sirius was more coherent when he was woken by Mrs Potter.

"I need you to take these potions dear, they'll help replenish your blood and start to heal some of the curse wounds."

"Thanks Mrs Potter. I didn't expect you to do all of this for me. I couldn't think where else to go." Sirius said, heaving himself up into a sitting position. His body still felt as though it were on fire and breathing continued to ache.

James, who was previously asleep on the floor, began to wake up. Upon seeing his friend awake too, he grabbed his glasses and stuffed them on in a hurry to sit up.

"Sirius, are you okay?"

"I'm fine James, really. In fact, I don't think I've ever been better." Sirius said as a smile began to light up his face. Unfortunately this caused the great cut across his face to reopen and blood began to pour once more down his face.

"You're delusional. How can you be that good when you look like this?"

"Easy, I'm not stuck in Grimmauld Place. That house really lives up to its name. Better yet, I'm never going back. I'm sure Andromeda will take me in, I know she's got a kid now and everything but she said I was always welcome." Despite the cut on his face Sirius was still smiling.

"Don't be daft. Mum and Dad said you can stay here so you're staying here. Can't have you running off to wreck the world as you please." In spite of everything, James too found himself smiling.

Sirius just stared between James and Mrs Potter completely stunned. "You're sure you'll let me stay?"

"Of course. Charlus and I always wanted another son." Mrs Potter replied Sirius' mouth was agape.

"So where's all your stuff Sirius. Is it still outside?" James asked before Sirius could bestow any more thanks upon Mrs Potter.

Sirius' smile slipped. "I left it all, didn't have a chance to grab anything. I know she broke my wand before I left. I'll have been disowned by now too.

"She did what!" James was, once again, stunned. "Why did you never say your family were such bastards?"

"James, mind your language." Mrs Potter chastised.

"I never wanted to cause a fuss. And I knew you lot would over-react."

"Over-react, how is this bloody over-reacting." James ignored his mother's protests at his use of profanity.

"Besides I'm used to it James. That's what it's like in other pure-blood families."

At that moment a large eagle owl landed on the windowsill and pecked gently at the glass.

"It's for you Sirius, I wonder how they knew you were here." Mrs Potter said, handing the letter to Sirius.

_Sirius,  
I need to see you. I know you ran away, your mother's furious. I need to see that you're okay for myself. I'll understand if the Potter's don't want me there though. Reply as soon as you can and we can arrange to meet up.  
Hope you made it out okay.  
Uncle Alphard._

"Is it okay if my uncle comes to see me Mrs Potter? I think he's really worried, it sounds like he ran into Mother last night or this morning." Sirius said. He suddenly gasped as Mercurius landed on his wounded knee.

"Of course, shall I send the reply?" When Sirius nodded gratefully, she picked up the bird and the letter and walked to the kitchen.

"So why did they do this to you?" James asked when his mother had left the room.

"They started slagging off you lot. I got angry, might have thrown something at Regulus in the process. I guess Mother got all protective over her precious perfect son." Sirius answered bitterly.

"That's it? They did all of this to you just because you stood up for your friends?"

"Well, Regulus managed to find out about Remus, no doubt from Snivellus. He blabbed to Mother and Father and they started going on about how werewolves don't deserve to exist. I think that was the point I snapped."

"Fuck Sirius. I didn't think you'd go through all that shit just to defend us. We weren't even there."

"That's not the point James. Everything just got too much and I was fed up with dealing with all of their shit."

"Well, thanks Padfoot. And Happy Christmas!" James said in an obvious attempt to cheer Sirius up.

It didn't work. "Oh shit it's Christmas? Fuck, sorry Prongs. I didn't mean to ruin it all for you."

"It's alright. Besides, my Christmas got better now that you're here and not with them."

By noon Sirius had apologised to both Mr and Mrs Potter at least ten times a piece. Both adamantly replied that he hadn't ruined their Christmas.

When Christmas dinner was ready, Sirius stumbled to the dining room and sat cautiously at the place that had been made up for him. Sirius much preferred the Potters' house to his own. It was full of so much extra warmth and the food was cooked by Mr Potter himself.

Though all of the food smelled delicious, Sirius could not stomach much of it. He felt ready to be sick after just a few mouthfuls and once again made his apologies.

"Don't be silly son; it's just an effect of the potions and the blood loss. You eat as much as you like." Mr Potter answered jovially. The Potters were always much more caring than Sirius' own parents.

After the others had finished their dinner, they all began exchanging gifts. Luckily, James had forgotten to owl Sirius his presents.

James had bought him a new beater's bat and some Quiddich gloves whilst Mr and Mrs Potter and got him a selection of Honeydukes sweets.

"You know I'm really glad I left my broom at school." Sirius said after thanking everyone at the table. "Unfortunately, most of my school stuff was left behind. I still don't know whether or not to be happy." Sirius still felt dizzy and ridiculously sore but he couldn't help thinking that he'd never been happier.

"And thanks again for everything. This is the best Christmas I've ever had. I suppose this is what real family Christmases are like?"

"You can stop thanking us now Sirius. And yes this is a real Potter family Christmas." Mrs Potter answered just as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Mr Potter said rising from the table.

Sirius heard muffled voices from down the hall until two sets of footsteps began their way towards the dining room. As the door opened Sirius saw the large stature of his Uncle Alphard who visibly relaxed upon seeing him.

Sirius stood quickly. Too quickly. Alphard strode over and gave his favourite nephew a hug also preventing him from falling to the floor.

"You look terrible Sirius. What happened?" Alphard said, carefully placing Sirius back on his chair as Mr Potter got him his own.

"Surely Mother told you?"

"Well yes, but that was her version of events and I for one have never trusted everything she has to say." Alphard said with a smile.

The Potters had offered Alphard dinner and as they were speaking he gratefully began to eat.

"Oh well, they started insulting my friends because of their lack of purity and social status, you know how the argument goes?"

"I do yes." Alphard said shaking his head shamefully. "But even my adorable older sister wouldn't do all of this to you just for that argument. You've had this argument before and it's never been this bad."

"Well, that started everything anyway. I may or may not have thrown a soup bowl at Regulus at one point too." Sirius said sheepishly.

"Sirius," Alphard answered warningly. "I know the two of you haven't gotten on for a while now but you didn't need to be violent."

"It was his fault. He shouldn't have started bad mouthing my friends and called Remus the things he did." Sirius was now stubborn.

All through the conversation so far, the Potters had been silent. After the recent revelation about Sirius' family they were shocked at the way Sirius was reacting and at how normal Alphard seemed.

"You never are going to tell me what's wrong with the Lupin boy are you?" Alphard said gently.

"Nope. Anyway what did Mother say about me?"

"Oh only the usual." He answered with a smirk. He put on a high pitched voice and began to imitate his elder sister. _"I don't know where that insolent brat gets all of his ill-conceived notions about blood purity not being worth anything. We brought him up right and then he throws it all back at us. He just pushes us as far as he can just to see what he can get out of it. He'll come crawling back when he realises that blood purity and family matter more than anything else. _I'm paraphrasing of course, there were plenty more dirty words in there that I won't repeat in a polite conversation."

Sirius roared with laughter, his uncle looked relieved that he was still reacting normally.

"On top of the ultimatum she gave me, she blasted you off the family tapestry and signed the papers declaring you officially disowned." Alphard continued with a grimace.

"Wow, she didn't hang around did she? So what's the bad news?" Sirius was not in the least bit affected by his disownment; after all he knew it was coming.

"I'm glad you took that so well Sirius but you do realise your Gringotts account has been closed and you no longer have any right to any family property."

"Well that's only to be expected I guess I'll just get a job. What about all my stuff?" Sirius was still unusually calm.

"Oh well, erm. You know how your mother gets when she's angry?"

"What did she do?" Sirius' voice suddenly got harder.

"She burnt the lot Sirius." Alphard hung his head over the now empty dinner plate. "She couldn't get the posters off the walls but everything else she took into the courtyard and destroyed. I'm sorry Sirius."

"Bitch. I had some good stuff in there too. At least the really important stuff was left at Hogwarts. I fucking hate her Uncle Alphard, I hate all of them."

Sirius was heart-broken; he had had some old presents his brother had sent him back when they were still friends and gifts from Alphard and Andromeda as well as pictures from the happier moments of his childhood.

"I know Sirius, I know." Alphard didn't even bother to chastise his nephew for his language, he simply dragged him into another hug. "I'm glad you have such good friends though, to take you in like this, to heal you up. Thank you." This last part Alphard directed at the Potters.

"He's more than welcome; he hasn't stopped thanking and apologising all day." Mrs Potter answered with a smile.

"Sirius knows he's always welcome here, he's practically a second son anyway." Her husband said beaming at the two, clearly relieved that not all Blacks were as horrid as Sirius' parents. "Would you like to stay the night Mr Black?"

"Only if it doesn't put you out of your way. And it's Alphard; I try and distance myself from the name as much as I can. Though I must say I am amazed at your hospitality, not many people like yourselves would receive a Black in such as friendly manner."

"Nonsense, Sirius is a Black and he's perfectly normal, why shouldn't he have a normal relative, even if it is only one." Mrs Potter answered stunned at Alphard's politeness.

"Well, I think there are three of us in total: myself, Sirius and Sirius' cousin Andromeda. If I'm staying the night I can take you to Diagon Alley tomorrow if you like Sirius, see if we can replenish your school things."

"That'd be nice. Thanks, I've never said thank you enough for keeping me sane all those years."

"Don't be ridiculous lad; you've more heart than all of us put together. Did Andromeda ever tell you it was your bravery in being sorted into Gryffindor that gave her the courage to marry Ted?"

"No, I had no idea. She was always so strong." Sirius asked astounded.

"You'd be surprised."

The following morning Sirius got ready to leave for Diagon Alley with his Uncle Alphard, though James had been invited he chose to decline, saying he had letters to write. Overnight, the Potter's house elf, Pabloma, had washed and repaired Sirius' robes that he'd arrived in.

The pair travelled by side-along apparition to Diagon Alley as Alphard didn't think flu powder would be any good for Sirius who still got dizzy fairly frequently.

Upon arrival their first stop was Ollivander's as, if Sirius needed anything for school it was a new wand. Upon seeing the pair, Ollivander's first reaction was to flinch slightly before remembering which two Blacks were in his store.

"Ah, what can I do for you both today?" Ollivander asked.

"Er, I need a new wand." Sirius replied feeling rather stupid, after all, why else would he be in a wand shop.

"Of course, but what happened to your last one. You didn't have it very long and it was a decent wand."

"Snapped." Sirius replied simply.

Ollivander accepted this answer after taking in Sirius' physical appearance. He'd clearly been in a fight of some sort. "Very well then, shall we try something similar to your previous wand?"

As it turned out, wands similar to his old one simply didn't agree with him anymore. After half an hour Sirius finally found an appropriate wand: Ash, Dragon Heartstring core and 11 and a half inches.

As Alphard passed the 7 galleons to Ollivander, Sirius pocketed his new wand feeling a little more comfortable with himself.

As the two began walking back down the cobble-stoned street Sirius felt a sudden wave of dizziness hit him. Alphard only just caught him in time. He half supported, half carried Sirius to the nearest chair he could find (one of the tables outside Florean Fortescue's).

"Are you alright Sirius?" Alphard asked worriedly.

"Yeah, it just hit me. I'll be fine. Where next?" Sirius asked, dramatically downplaying the pain he was feeling. Alphard however, saw through his nephew's façade.

"Well, I need to get a little more gold as I don't have much on me, then we can have lunch if you like." When Sirius nodded his agreement and began to try and stand, Alphard hurriedly continued. "Though I don't think the carts in Gringotts will agree with you, how about you wait here, I won't be long."

Once Alphard had returned Sirius was feeling better and he thought he could continue walking. However, Alphard thought it best to simply apparate into the Leaky Cauldron as it would save Sirius' energy.

Over lunch they discussed what vital things Sirius would need before returning to school. Sirius didn't like that Alphard had to spend so much money on him just because his mother had burnt all his things. Though Alphard said he didn't mind in the slightest, Sirius refused to let him buy the things he didn't really need, such as his chess set.

Afterwards, they headed to Madam Malkin's as all of Sirius' school robes were left along with most of his casual clothing.

"We can go to a muggle shop after we're done here to get you some other things too if you like. We can get your casual robes here."

"You really don't have to do this Uncle Alphard, I'm sure I can borrow some of James' clothes for now, we're practically the same size." Sirius said adamantly as he picked out the correct size of school robes.

"I'm buying you some clothes Sirius, I don't care what you say in protest." Alphard had begun to use his stern voice and Sirius got the message.

Unfortunately, being Boxing Day, some of the shops were still shut including all three book shops in Diagon Alley, even the second hand one.

"Right, so there are things you'll have to make do without. But after we've gotten you some muggle clothes you'll have all the essentials, yes?" Alphard said, frowning at the world in general.

"Yeah. I can borrow books and potions stuff from my mates though. There's always enough floating around our dormitory."

With the shopping done, the Blacks returned to the Potters'.

"I'll have to leave pretty soon Sirius, I've work to catch up on. I'm glad you're alright. And I'm glad you have such good friends, they'll keep you on track the way no one else ever could." Alphard said after walking through the door.

Grinning, Sirius replied, "Yeah, they're really great. I wish you didn't have to go so soon though."

"Well I'll keep in touch, more than I used to. Now I must go thank Mr and Mrs Potter one last time before I leave."

After dinner that night, Mr Potter turned to Sirius and said "You're to come back here in the summer holidays Sirius. I don't want you going back to your parents. You're to live here until you're ready to move out and get a place of your own, do you hear me?"

"Only for as longs as you'll have me, Mr Potter." Sirius was grinning from ear to ear.

_**A/N: I'd love it if you reviewed, doesn't matter what you say: constructive criticism is welcome as it highlighting any mistakes I've made. Hope it's not too angsty and long. Thanks :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**So it was pointed out to me that the first chapter finished a bit abruptly and since I finished writing it I kept thinking about how Sirius would reintegrate back into Hogwarts afterwards. This may jump about a bit but hopefully it will add a bit more closure to this episode of Sirius' life.**_

**Disowned: Chapter Two**

Sirius enjoyed the remainder of the Christmas holidays in relative peace. His dizzy spells got slightly less frequent and his appetite returned. Despite the obvious improvements however, Sirius still got tired easily and frequently found himself in a lot of pain.

-#-

On the first of January, Sirius and James boarded the Hogwarts Express and entered their usual compartment. Soon after Remus and Peter joined them.

"So how was your Christmas?" Remus asked as he took a seat.

"Brilliant, actually. I've never had better." Sirius answered while Remus stared at him quizzically. The day that Sirius and his uncle had gone to Diagon Alley to purchase new clothes and a wand, James had written to both Remus and Peter explaining what had happened.

"B-but James said you ran away?" Peter said tentatively.

"I did. What do you think made it a good Christmas?" Sirius was still much happier than two of his friends thought he would be. James on the other hand, knew that Sirius was abnormally cheerful, he assumed it was his way of coping with his problems.

"Why did you not tell us they were like that, Sirius?" Remus asked. Despite everything that had happened in October between Sirius and his three best friends, Remus, James and Peter had forgiven Sirius' moment of stupidity. Admittedly it had taken them all a long while (things still had not gotten quite back to normal before leaving for the Christmas holidays) but recent events had made them all move pass it.

"It wasn't a big problem. Anyway, you lot would all think it worse than it really was,"

"Shut up Padfoot," James objected. "I saw the state of you when you turned up on my doorstep. You looked worse than Moony after a bad full moon. You'd been through hell and you're still not right as it is so don't give us all that crap."

"It was my problem James. I'd rather have the shit beaten out of me than submit to their ever whim and belief." Sirius said rather colder than he initially intended. Either way, it got the message across.

"So you were standing up for your beliefs _and _your friends?" Remus said perceptively.

"Well the two kind of go hand in hand you know, Moony." Sirius smiled and his friends saw that as the end of the conversation.

As the journey continued, talk turned to more light-hearted subjects. Around four o'clock Sirius slumped against the window and fell asleep. None of the others bothered him until the train began to slow and it was time to change into their robes.

-#-

Sirius had been popular at Hogwarts for a long time now. Actually, after the rest of his fellow Gryffindors had realised he wasn't the 'average' Black, it hadn't taken long for Sirius and his friends to become some of the most popular students in the school. This had only increased as the Marauders risen up through the years and their infamy (particularly James and Sirius' infamy) had sky rocketed.

This had resulted in many people knowing the handsome face of Sirius Black, and while he didn't mind this too much, it made entering the Great Hall rather interesting. Unfortunately the four friends were some of the last to enter the Great Hall as Sirius was never one to wake up quickly or easily. As they began the long walk to the other side of the room heads turned from every direction. Sirius still walked with a pronounced limp and the great cut across his face had faded now to a pink line but it was still obvious to all that saw that Sirius had been in some kind of fight. Normally, Sirius wouldn't have minded all the attention but as he walked he could feel the dizziness begin to creep up on him.

By the time they had taken their seats at the Gryffindor table, most of the school had caught a glimpse of the dark haired boy, including half of the teaching staff.

"You'd think that they had nothing better to look at." James grumbled as he took his seat next to his best friend.

"Most of the girls don't seem to care though, Sirius. I swear I heard one say that the scar made you look more dangerous." Peter and Remus had sat opposite the others and were facing the rest of the school. "Not that you need your notoriety increased though." Peter finished, laughing.

Sirius' face split into a large grin and soon after all of the Marauders were back to their usual laughing selves as the first years entered the room and the rest of the student body began to hush.

-#-

Sirius slept little the following night. He'd placed silencing charms around his four-poster bed in order to prevent himself from disturbing his friends. Every time he closed his eyes Sirius found himself back in his father's smoking room, facing his parents once more. Though he didn't really fall asleep, the images were vivid in his mind and he spent the majority of the night tossing and turning under his covers.

The severe lack of sleep the previous night did not set Sirius in good stead for their first day of lessons. Midway through first period Transfiguration, Sirius found himself feeling rather bored at Professor McGonagall's speech about vanishing spells on simple vertebrates. It was something Sirius had achieved late in the previous term, the rest of the class were yet to get the same results. Within five minutes of blandly listening to the theory behind the spell, Sirius fell asleep.

It didn't take long for Professor McGonagall to notice that one of her usually loud students was silent. With a short wave of her wand, McGonagall set a loud horn noise off just behind Sirius' ear. Predictably, Sirius jumped at the noise as the rest of the class laughed loudly, James, Remus and Peter however, glared at them.

"Mr Black, can you explain to me the reason why you feel that my lesson is the perfect time to catch up on some sleep?" McGonagall queried none too kindly from the front of the room.

"Er, no. Sorry Professor."

"That is an insufficient answer, Mr Black. I will be scrutinising the homework you did over the holidays to make sure that you understand this complex piece of transfiguration."

Sirius' eyes widened and he looked frantically round at James who shrugged.

"Do not tell me you have not even completed the homework?" McGonagall's sharp tone cut across the classroom.

"Fuck." Sirius muttered, though not quiet enough to prevent the entire class from hearing. "I left it at home, Professor." It was not really a lie, Sirius reasoned with himself. All three of his friends turned in their chairs to stare at him in disbelief, _why didn't he just tell her the truth?_ The rest of the class however, looked eager to see yet another Sirius-McGonagall clash as they had become so used to.

"Language, Black. Wait outside the classroom until the end of the lesson. I will deal with you then. And do not even think about wandering off or else you'll be in detention until Easter." McGonagall looked livid. Sirius however, rose from his seat without a word in his defence, much to the surprise of the entire class (professor included) and quietly left the room.

Outside, Sirius leaned against the stone wall and ran a hand through his shoulder-length black hair. _What was he going to tell McGonagall? _She was surely only to give him detention but Sirius didn't feel like he deserved it, though he wasn't really in the mood to explain why.

At the end of the lesson, James hung back and waited for the rest of the class to file out, gesturing to his friends that he'd meet them later.

"What are you after, Mr Potter?" McGonagall asked, not even remotely pleased to see that James had tried to stay behind to protect his friend.

"Well Professor, it's about Sirius." James began, not entirely sure what to say.

"I do not what to hear it. Mr Black has gotten himself into enough trouble by himself and does not need you to fight his battles for him. You will be late for your next lesson if you don't leave soon."

"But Professor, you don't understand. Sirius ran away over the holidays. His mum burnt all his stuff." James protested quickly despite the obvious warning in Professor McGonagall's voice.

"If this is true, why didn't he just say?"

"He's probably just being proud. Besides he wouldn't tell us until I kept badgering him about it. He turned up on my doorstep in a right mess."

"Thank you for telling me this, James. I will have a word with him. However, I will repeat my earlier comment that you will be late for your next lesson if you don't leave soon." McGonagall said pointedly, though a lot friendlier than she initially was. "On your way out, could you send Sirius in please?"

James nodded in answer, placed his homework on the pile on the desk and walked out the classroom door without another word.

McGonagall was worried about Sirius. Despite what she said to him, she really did like the boy. He was talented in every aspect of his work and had great prospects. If what James had said were true, then she knew Sirius would not have escaped the Black family without a fight, they just weren't the kind of family to let these sorts of things go down quietly. The only question now was how she would convince him to open up to her.

As Sirius shuffled into the room, McGonagall gestured for him to sit at the desk that was alongside her own (Sirius' usual detention seat) and he did so without a word. This sent alarm bells ringing in Minerva's head as, if she knew anything about Sirius Black, it was that he would always protest his innocence despite how guilty he was.

"I've been made aware that you left home over the holidays, Sirius." McGonagall said in a much softer voice than she was used to using with him. This fact alone caught Sirius' attention in addition to the use of his first name. Minerva could practically see the boy's thoughts spinning around in his head.

"James told you?" Sirius said, more to give himself time to think than anything else.

"Yes." McGonagall prompted no more, thinking that if he wanted to tell her then he would. If she tried to push him too much he'd just shut down completely. She had enough experience with that version of the young Black to think that it'd work.

Sirius nodded, not overly bothered that his best friend had shared the news.

"Where are you living in the holidays?"

"Mr and Mrs Potter said I could live there until I'm ready to get my own place." Minerva wasn't sure if she'd ever heard Sirius talk about someone with so much respect.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

Sirius contemplated for a while. The silence that filled the air was awkward for both parties. On one hand Sirius felt he should be able to deal with his own problems, but then again he had a burning desire to tell someone what had actually happened, rather than the watered down version he gave his friends. But what if McGonagall told others, what would happen then?

The transfiguration professor read her student perfectly; while his face was not normally easy to read, Sirius had become so distracted with his own thoughts and inner pains that his face was like an open book. "This conversation will go no further, Sirius. You have my word on that."

Again, another moment of awkward silence. Then, "Why couldn't they just accept me for who I am?" Sirius exploded. Minerva would have jumped if she had not been all too aware of the infamous temper that came with Sirius Black.

"What were you arguing about? I'm assuming of course that you were arguing?"

Sirius again nodded. "The usual arguments about how my beliefs are entirely wrong and how I'm unbecoming of a Black." Sirius said bitterly. "Then they started on my friends: dirty blood traitors this and filthy mudbloods that. Then Reg had managed to find out about Remus and let that 'slip' and all hell broke loose." Minerva's eyebrow rose slightly at Sirius' use of nickname for his younger brother but thankfully Sirius didn't notice. "Why should I look down on people just because their parents don't have pure blood or because they were unlucky when they were a kid?"

"I agree with you Sirius, but the Blacks have always been strong believers in blood supremacy." Though she tried to hide it, McGonagall was sickened by the Black's treatment of the eldest son and their narrow-mindedness.

"It makes me sick. _They _make me sick."

Minerva hadn't expected such a confession/outburst from the young man, the Blacks never turned against each other. However she chastised herself for her reactions; Sirius had never been like any other Black she had ever know, including his cousin, Andromeda, who had been, by far, the most decent in the family before Sirius.

"What did they do to you?" She asked gently, knowing it was a difficult subject to breach with any student let alone one like Sirius.

"What makes you think they did anything to me?" Sirius was beginning to shut down and Minerva had to act quickly.

"They are not the type of people to let such a thing go unpunished, Sirius. Besides, I noticed your limp and the way you keep moving gingerly."

Sirius slumped his shoulders in defeat. Minerva had never seen such an expression on the boy's face and was shocked at what she saw.

"She cursed me, several times." Minerva didn't need to ask who 'she' was. "Used an Unforgivable too-"

"What!?" McGonagall couldn't prevent the outburst but after seeing the young boy's expression she was glad she did. Sirius looked almost glad, as though nobody had ever expressed concern over his well-being before.

Sirius tried to smile to comfort his favourite professor but the most he could manage was a small grimace as the memories floated behind his eyes.

"She cut me a few times as well, slashing curses and whatnot. Father broke my ribs and slammed me into the wall. I think I fell unconscious not long after that but I woke to my mother snapping my wand in two." Sirius' voice was dead and devoid of any emotion. "When they left the room I got up and left. Got the Knight Bus to James' and Mrs Potter fixed me up. My Uncle Alphard came over the day after, told me Mother had disowned me and burned all my stuff. He got me some new stuff as well: wand, clothes, trunk and everything."

As Sirius finished his story he cast his eyes downwards at the desk in front of him.

Minerva was aghast. How could parents do that to a child? How could anybody do that to another person? "How did you make it to the Potter's? You must have been in extreme pain." Her voice was barely a whisper. She knew Sirius must have had a strong personality to be the only Black in history to be a Gryffindor but she had no idea that he could stand up to that.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't really remember." He lied.

"So this is why you were asleep in my lesson? Why you didn't have your homework?"

Sirius nodded, still staring at the desk and unable to make eye-contact.

"Do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey to have your injuries looked at?" McGonagall asked kindly.

"No! Er, I mean, I'm fine. As I said, Mrs Potter patched me up. She used to be a healer." Sirius did not want to spend any longer being poked and prodded than he had to, and he felt he could manage on his own.

"Okay, Sirius. If you want to talk at any time, you know where I am. I urge you to come and see me if you want any help. With anything, I mean it. I'll send letters to the rest of your teachers explaining your lack of homework and equipment. I hope you can get through this Sirius. Let your friends help you, you will need them."

Again Sirius nodded and McGonagall felt she'd get no more out of him, for today at least – he looked completely drained, both emotionally and physically.

"Take the rest of the day off. Go back to your dormitory and get some sleep, you look like you need it. Go and see Madam Pomfrey if you need anything for your injuries. And remember you can come and see me at any time."

Sirius seemed incapable of further speech so he just nodded once more and left the classroom for Gryffindor common room. Sirius felt better after his talk with Professor McGonagall and thought he might finally get some sleep. Besides, he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to miss history of magic and double potions.

-#-

Over the following three days Sirius had to put up with the occasional stares from other students and snide comments from the Slytherins. Word had somehow gotten out that Sirius had run away over the holidays and hearing the gradually more extravagant tales that his peers had created made Sirius laugh. Things were steadily heading back to normal until that evening, the night before the full moon.

"I want you with us tomorrow, Padfoot. If you're up to it, anyway?" Remus asked as he fell heavily onto his four-poster bed.

Sirius' mouth dropped open and the slice of cake he'd been eating lay forgotten in front of him. Remus had forbidden Sirius from joining him on nights of the full moon since the Whomping Willow incident as he didn't feel he could trust him anymore.

"What?" Sirius hadn't thought Remus would ever trust him again, and it seemed that even James and Peter hadn't expected Moony to say what he did.

"I want you there. It's easier with you. It's bearable with Wormtail and Prongs but it's still a bit lonely without you. Besides, I think you've earned it."

"How have I." Sirius was still dumbstruck.

"Well, you showed you still cared. By sticking up for us, for me. Regardless of the consequences."

"You do realise I didn't do it on purpose?"

"Well, yes. No matter how mental you are, I don't think even you'd go through all of that just to get back in my good books."

"No." Sirius agreed. "I'd probably do something even more mental."

-#-

The following night found three of four friends on the oversized windowsill of their dormitory waiting to see Madam Pomfrey and the fourth friend heading towards the ferocious tree that had been planted the year they started school.

The minute they saw the two begin the long walk across the grounds, James grabbed his invisibility cloak and Peter seized the partially completed Marauders' Map and they all ran out of the room, through the common room and out of the portrait hole. Within five minutes they were stood in the alcove next the Great Oak doors. There, Peter transformed into his rat form and Sirius picked him up and placed him on his shoulder as James threw the invisibility cloak over them.

They began towards the Whomping Willow with practiced steps that they had been rehearsed since first year. Once they were branch-length away, they came to a halt as Peter ran down Sirius' back and pressed the knot on the stump and they all quickly ran into the small gap between the roots. Once inside, the pair dragged off the cloak and stuffed it into a small hole they'd made not long after they'd started joining Remus for the full moons.

Sirius concentrated on a small part of his mind that he knew would enable his transformation. When Sirius felt the now familiar magic flow through him he dropped onto all fours. However, the first thing he registered in his canine mind was explosive agony in his furry torso. He let out a short whimper of pain.

"Padfoot? Are you okay?" James said staring down at his best friend, clearly caught just before his own transformation.

Padfoot leaned against the rock wall, trying to catch his breath. Trying desperately hard to breathe through the pain, he bobbed his head at James and began an ungainly trot down the dim passage. He briefly registered James transforming behind him and follow him, carefully minding his antlers on the protruding rocks.

As the three animagi reached the end of the passage they heard the familiar growling of Moony as his painful transformation began. The wolf sniffed the air as his three pack members burst through the door.

Moony yowled in happiness. His pack was back. They'd been broken for several full moons but now they were back. As the werewolf sunk back to all fours, he sniffed the air and carefully sidled up to Padfoot and sniffed once more. He carefully nudged Padfoot on the chest and whimpered in time with his most fun pack member.

For some unknown reason, Sirius' transformation had re-broken his previously thought to be healed ribs. Sirius hadn't felt the need to tell his friends this as, to do so he'd have to change back to his human form and he felt that would be an even more painful change.

The rest of the night and the start of the morning passed in relative peace. The wolf had not wanted to play after discovering Padfoot's injury. Instead, Moony had fallen asleep on the floor of the Shrieking Shack and Padfoot had found himself – also asleep – curled up by Moony's paws.

As dawn broke, Prong tried to nudge his friend awake with his antlers as Wormtail jumped repeatedly on his nose. Moony yawned himself awake as his transformation began once more.

"Why do I not hurt as much as normal? And why am I not tired?" Remus asked quizzically as he began to pull on his robes.

Prongs' antlered head swung to the side, nearly catching Remus as he did so. He heard footsteps cautiously climbing up the old wooden stairs.

"Hide, Prongs." Remus whispered staring down at his canine friend wearing a look of puzzlement.

Madam Pomfrey pushed open the door as James (now in human form) closed the door of the strangely in-tact wardrobe.

"How did he get in here?" The Hogwarts' healer asked looking down at Padfoot.

"I don't know, he was here when I woke up." Remus didn't like lying to the woman who had helped him for the last five years but it had to be done.

At that moment, Padfoot began to stir. Poppy dropped to her knees and scratched the scruffy dog's ears. As he tilted his head to the side, she stared into his strangely familiar eyes.

"You've found a friend, Remus." Madam Pomfrey said looking at the now fully clothed teenager. "You look much better this morning too. He must have helped you last night,"

"Yeah, I still ache a lot, but I'm not cut or bruised too much and I'm not that tired, just really lethargic."

"Hmm, well let's get you back to the castle then."

The two left the shack with the younger stumbling slightly.

When the remaining friends could no longer hear their progress through the house, James exited the wardrobe.

"Are you alright Padfoot?" James asked as Peter appeared, fully formed, next to him.

Padfoot focused on that tiny place in his mind and found himself coughing in a heap at the foot of the bed. "I'm fine James." Sirius wheezed.

James and Peter snorted in unison.

"Alright, alright. I think, maybe I popped a rib or two when I transformed earlier."

"What? How can that happen. You and James said your ribs were healed." Peter exclaimed.

"They were-" Sirius cut himself of with another dangerous cough.

"Come on mate, we're taking you to the hospital wing." James said, stooping to try and carefully prise Sirius off the floor where he lay in the foetal position.

"I'd say I'll be fine but I know you won't listen."

"Nope."

Carefully, the three Marauders invisibly made their way back to the castle where they removed the cloak. James and Peter supported Sirius as they clambered up the stairs to the second floor where the hospital wing lay.

After knocking on the door several times, a rather disapproving Madam Pomfrey appeared.

"Now is not the time for visiting boys, it's barely past dawn."

"It's Sirius. He thinks his ribs have re-broken."

"What? How?" Madam Pomfrey stepped aside and allowed the boys to enter, supporting Sirius and carefully place him on the nearest bed.

"Fell of my bed. Rolled too far and landed on the corner of trunk." Sirius heaved. James and Peter were relieved that he could lie so quickly as they had not thought to come up with an excuse.

"Hmm. Well I'll have him fixed up in a jiffy."

And she did. Though being the second time in two weeks that he'd had his ribs healed, it was just a painful as the first.

As Sirius let out a low moan of pain, Poppy looked at him thinking that he vaguely reminded her of the dog she'd seen earlier that morning. She soon shook herself free of this absurd thought and gave the dark-haired boy a mild painkiller potion and sent them on their way, telling them they could return at 8 o'clock to see Remus.

-#-

The rest of the week passed rather uneventfully with Sirius even managing to get most of his homework done, though with a lot of help from Remus.

The following Monday morning however (six days after returning from the Christmas holidays) everything kicked off over breakfast.

The Marauders entered the Great Hall at 8.30, running slightly late but with just enough time for breakfast. One of the fourth year Slytherins called over from their table at the far side of the room.

"Oi Black! What's it like to be homeless?"

"Do you have a habit of acting as a puppet, Crouch or do you like being lorded over by my little brother." Sirius called back.

The younger Black rose to meet the challenge. "How's life as a blood traitor with no parents going for you Sirius?"

"Much better than having a family like ours, little _brother._ What happened to your nose? It looks a little wonky if you ask me." Many of the Gryffindors snickered appreciatively.

"You know damn well what happened to my nose, blood traitor." Regulus growled back.

"Aww, what's the matter? Did Mother not love you enough to fix it herself?" Sirius' tone was mocking and his voice was echoed by laugher from three of the four house tables. Professors McGonagall and Slughorn began to make their way towards their respective students, with the latter seeming much more grudging than the former.

"No, both Mother and Father were busy if you remember Sirius. Something to do with crushing the blood-traitor, I think."

The entire room went deadly silent and the teachers froze, all eyes were glued to Sirius, anxious to see if the explosive Black temper would reveal itself.

Shocking every soul in the room, Sirius laughed. A loud, barking, Sirius laugh. "They didn't exactly succeed did they Regulus. Last I checked, I wasn't crushed. And I'm finally free of their oppressive, pure-blood supremacist shit."

"Mind your language, Black." McGonagall had finally reached Sirius.

"Sorry." But Sirius didn't look it. He just grinned broadly as he sat down, Minerva didn't have the heart to chastise him further.

Breakfast continued normally after that with the Marauders much more awake than they previously were.

Sirius leaned around James to call to another Gryffindor. "Jason, can I borrow your Muggle Studies text book?"

Jason Cleverley was a sixth year and was the second choice beater on the Quiddich team behind Sirius. "Sure, I was just going to head up to pick up my bag so you can come and get it if you want."

"Thanks." And the two rose to leave the Great Hall.

As they reached the Entrance Hall, Sirius found a handful of Slytherins loitering by the staircase. When Cleverley had started up the stairs, the Slytherins moved to cut Sirius off. At this point Sirius realised the group consisted of his brother, his cousin Narcissa and her fiancée Lucius Malfoy. All had their wands pointed directly at his face.

"How dare you talk to your betters in such a way Black." Malfoy started in his usual smooth voice.

Sirius ignored him and turned to his younger brother. "So how's life as the new Black heir, brother?" As they were speaking, none of the four noticed that Professor Dumbledore was now standing in the doorway to the Great Hall.

"Better now you're gone." Regulus replied bitterly.

"The disjointed beliefs still going strong?"

"At least my beliefs won't get me killed Sirius. You should be watching your back."

"Are you threatening me, little brother?"

"Not yet. But I won't be the only one after you soon."

Sirius ducked to avoid the three spells that were aimed at his head while making a grab for his own wand. He rose to his full height as Regulus turned to face him.

"That is enough." Dumbledore commanded his voice low and dangerous. Sirius' wand was millimetres from digging into Regulus' eye while Regulus' was an inch in front of Sirius' nose. Both turned slightly to face the headmaster but neither lowered their wands. Lucius and Narcissa however, pocketed their wands immediately.

"The halls of this school are not for family issues and blood politics. Now put your wands away." Dumbledore's eyes told all present that he was not in the mood to be messed with.

"Sorry Headmaster." Regulus said, quickly pocketing his wand as Sirius let his arm drop to his side, though keeping his wand in hand.

"Now seeing as no spells were fired I am willing to overlook this incident. Though if I hear of anything of this sort happening again - from either of you - you will be in a lot of trouble. You have both been warned before for this sort of behaviour before. Now head off to your lessons."

"Yes Sir." Regulus said, quickly falling back into his usual manners.

As the Slytherins sidled off, Sirius remained stood in front of his headmaster carefully reigning in his temper. Dumbledore arched a single angry eyebrow at Sirius as if querying his continued presence.

"Sorry" Sirius mumbled before ascending the staircase to rejoin Jason Cleverley.

-#-

Though Sirius had first period Muggle Studies (a subject he took for the sole purpose of annoying his mother), he met up with James, Remus and Peter in second period Charms.

"Are you alright mate?" James asked as he attempted to banish his cushion.

"Yeah, why?" Sirius replied as he managed to hit Peter with his cushion who was sat at the desk in front with Remus.

"Just what happened over breakfast. And I heard from Hestia Jones in first year that you ran into your lot in the Entrance Hall."

"That was nothing. Besides, Dumbledore stepped in before I could hex Regulus into next week."

"What, so none of it got to you? It normally would." Remus remarked, summoning his cushion after his successful banishment.

"Not really. It's nothing abnormal to be honest. Though he did have a point: I do need to start looking for a job."

"Where are you going to get a job when you're still at Hogwarts?" James asked, now leaning on his cushion.

"Well I was going to walk into Hogsmeade at some point. Just ask around."

"Hate to break it to you mate but I don't think anybody'll take you on without even O. " James replied.

"Wouldn't hurt to try thou-"

"Boys, are you practicing the banishment charm?" Professor Flitwick asked, trotting over to them. "Let me see you demonstrate it."

So in the end the boys had to abandon their conversation and focus more on their charms. Though three of them had mastered the spell (three guesses who was still struggling), they weren't all too accurate with where the cushions ended up. Or rather they were, they were just aiming for each other rather than the box on the other side of the room.

-#-

After dinner that night, Sirius headed to the Whomping Willow alone. Taking the longer route to Hogsmeade partly because he didn't want to appear in a shop and partly because he wanted to stretch his legs.

James had lent him his invisibility cloak so when Sirius neared the tree he threw it over himself and transformed into Padfoot being careful to remain covered. The tree was not so good at detecting animals so Sirius slipped past unnoticed by students and tree alike.

Transforming back into human form to stuff the cloak into a pocket before turning back, Sirius set off at a gentle run through the house relishing the freedom.

Sirius started at the far end of the high street with the shops that only the locals used. His first stop was The Magic Neep, the local grocery. There he was turned down because they didn't need any new staff. Next he went to Potages, Ollivander's and Dogweed & Deathcap, though each turned him down due to inexperience. Then he tried Tomes & Scrolls and Scrivenshafts but they both threatened to owl Dumbledore so he left pretty sharpish.

Several shops later, Sirius still hadn't even gotten an interested look so he turned down one of the side streets and entered the Hogs Head Tavern. Aberforth took one look at Sirius with his all too Dumbledore-esque eyes and Sirius retreated back out the door.

As a last ditch hope Sirius walked into the Three Broomsticks, prepared to beg if he had to. Thankfully Norman Hillcroft – the landlord – was manning the fort. Sirius walked up to the bar as Hillcroft turned.

"I didn't think today was a Hogsmeade weekend? Or weekend at all?" he said smiling.

"Er, it's not. I came to ask if you wanted any more bar staff."

"How did you get out of the castle? Never mind, how old are you?"

"Sixteen, I'm doing my O. this summer. But I really need the job."

"Well, we are really short staffed, it's only me and my daughter, Rosmerta, working here at the minute. Can you get out of the castle like this every night?"

"Yeah, it's not a problem. There're several ways in and out."

"Well if you're sure. Though if any of your teachers walk in here while you're working – except Hogsmeade weekends obviously – you're to stay out of sight."

"Of course. Does this mean I've got the job?"

"For now. Are you okay to work Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays?"

"Yeah, what times?" Sirius was ecstatic.

"Seven 'till closing. If you can't make it for any reason- just let myself or Rosmerta know. Hogsmeade weekends I expect you to work from nine in the morning 'till closing. You'll get breaks don't worry. You get six sickles a day except Hogsmeade weekends you'll get two Galleons – it's busy those days."

"Brilliant, thanks." Sirius' grin was infectious.

"What did you say your name was?"

"Sirius."

"Alright Sirius," The two shook hands. "You can start on Friday."

"Thanks, boss."

Sirius left the pub still smiling and jogged off back to the Shrieking Shack where he donned the invisibility cloak and returned to the castle.

-#-

"How'd it go?" Remus asked as Sirius sat heavily at their table.

"Great. Got a job at the Three Broomsticks. Start on Friday."

"Great, you can get us alcohol." James said enthusiastically.

"I'm not going to lose my job before I've even started, Prongs."

"Killjoy." James pretended to sulk.

"Aren't the teachers going to kill you when they find out?" Peter asked looking up from his attempt at Potions homework.

"He's got a fair point Sirius." Remus seconded.

"Only _if _they find out. I can quit if they stop me going."

"Well congratulations." James said. "But we really ought to do this homework, 'specially if you're working at the weekend."

"Oh alright." Sirius said reluctantly.

-#-

Sirius' life had finally resumed some vague sense of normality. While the Slytherins kept hassling Sirius in the corridors, his friends kept him on the straight and narrow. Sirius returned to his usual disruptive self and got back to his detention streak. He had several near misses at work where teachers were concerned but to his friends' surprise he managed to keep the job and juggle it around the full moons and countless detentions.

Sirius was truly happy and was even looking forward to the Easter holidays. The knowledge that he didn't have to return to Grimmauld Place threatened to brighten his mornings with just the thought of it. Sirius was glad that, for once, he had control over his own life and he thoroughly intended to do with it as he wished.

**Well I'm going to end it there, if I don't then I could go on forever. Let me know what you think or if there're bits you don't understand. You have no idea how much it will make my day if you review, no matter what you say. Hopefully that's more of a definitive ending though I still think it's a bit abrupt. Thanks for sticking around.**

**In other news I'm about to start another story where I get Sirius obsessed again 'Becoming an Auror'. Hope I see you again :)**


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